New Obstacles
by Indi Lestrange
Summary: Alan as a freshman at Wharton. Some new rules, new people, new challenges...should be easy right?
1. Pilot

**Set when Alan is a freshman at Wharton, I want to see people's reaction to it :) **

**(How? It will become more apparent later on)**

**The story is currently rated T, but will be changed when the time arises :D**

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Alan Tracy walked into the grounds of Wharton Academy and felt his throat seize up. Oh god, he couldn't do this. Leaving all his family...Well, most of his family, Fermat was here too, but still, he was going to miss his brothers so much. And his Dad. Probably his Dad more actually. How had Gordon done it? Gordon has graduated last year and was thrilled to not have to be away from the island, and ultimately, the action. And to think Alan had been looking forward to coming here! His shirt felt to tight around his neck, like he was chocking as he walked up the pathway, a few steps ahead of everyone. Stopping abruptly, he turned to his father, pleading not to be left here with his eyes.

"Oh come on Alan, you've been wanting to come here for years! You'll be fine." Jeff said as he walked past his son, dragging Fermat's suitcase along, as the boy struggled with his laptop bag. "Where are we supposed to be? What dorm are you in?"

"Um, I think Dorado this year, isn't that the freshman dorm?"

"That one?" Alan looked up, relieved to see his Dad was pointing to a building not that far of a walk.

"Yeah, thats it, the notorious freshman dorms"

The small group made their way over and joined the rest of the people, parents and students alike, waiting to be admitted to the dorm. Alan looked around, surveying his new year group. A dark-haired boy with his iPod in, looking like he would rather be sleeping, a boy with braces, struggling to hold a saxophone case and his bag, a bigger boy with hollow eyes laughing at him, a pair of twins, one with lighter hair, sitting on the floor playing thumb wars, a short boy with big eyes looking around nervously, like he was expecting someone to materialise from the air. As a group, they all looked quite nervous and Alan was relived to not be the only one who was scared.

Jeff grumbled impatiently, "Hurry up, some people have natural disasters to get back to"

Alan's head shot up and he glanced around quickly, seeing if anyone had noticed his Dad give the slightest hint away, but everyone was too busy complaining themselves to notice "Dad!" He hissed, "Don't say anything, I want to keep a really low profile here, you can go if you want, it looks like some other parents have left already"

"I'm not going, I told Brains I was going to make sure Fermat got settled while he was busy, I'm going to at least do that"

The father and son glared at each other for a moment then both quickly broke eye contact as a voice called their attention.

The voice was coming from a well dressed woman, a grey skirt and pale cream blouse, her hair pulled back neatly and pinned into place, her stance and mannerisms radiating authority.

"We apologise profusely for the delay, but there have been a few issues regarding the rooming, if you would all like to leave your bags here in neat piles with your name tags showing, and make your way to Hew's Hall, it would be much appreciated" The woman called, everyone deathly silent at her words. She nodded her dismiss and murmurs spread through the small crowd and people began shuffling bags around.

* * *

All the freshman parents and students were packed like sardines in the ridiculously small Hew's Hall, resenting how the rest of the school and their parents were now in the spacious Auditorium, being given a "Welcome back" briefing.

There was the sound of someone tapping on a microphone and then the dreaded screeching of audio feedback.

"Yes, everybody please settle down, this meeting can be quick and painless if you cooperate." the woman who had addressed them outside the dorms was back and on the microphone, "Again, we are sorry about the delays in your sons settling in. Due to certain incidents last year, there will be some changes to the way the boys are being accommodated this year, with the most drastic change being that instead of two to a dorm, as in previous years, the dorms have been expanded, and there will now be four." She paused, allowing frantic whisperings to go around the hall. Alan looked at Fermat, even if they did get in the same room, how were they supposed to talk about IR with two other boys living there as well? Fermat nodded slightly and sighed, this year was going to be difficult.

"Also, each of the four wings of Dorado house has been expanded to include a common room for the 12 boys sharing that wing, thus eliminating a lot of the mess usually left in the main common room, which is also supposed to be used for visitors and guests. Boys are now asked to, unless a full house meeting is called, refrain from using the main common room." More whisperings around the room.

"And lastly, there will also be a 7.30am inspection of each dorm daily. Unless the house, as a whole, is up to scratch, no-one will be going to breakfast. The boys will need to work together to make sure everything is in a clean condition. Failure to keep the common room of your wing neat and tidy may result in leave privileges being taken away for that wing." Some mothers were looking around at each other, grinning at the thoughts of their sons being forced to clean up.

"Now when I call your name, follow your councillior with the rest of your group and they will show you to your dorms," She gestured to where a large group of student councillors now stood, the main assembly being finished, "Right, in the east wing, Dorm 1, Vito Trimboli, Trent Barker, Alex Robbins and Josh Sabin. Please follow Marcus. East wing, Dorm 2, Isaac English, Fermat Hackenbacker, Echo Hart and Alan Tracy. Please follow Julian."

The boys and Jeff stood up and started walking out as the woman began naming the next dorms.

"We'll call or something soon as we can.." Alan started

"And tell everyone we said Hi back home" Fermat added, "Especially my Dad"

Jeff nodded and gave both boys a quick hug before the prefect lead them out.

_Thats my little boy, all grown up._

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**SO. Tell me what you think! **

**Review are actually the best thing ever :D**


	2. Other People's Sheets

**Yay! Some reviews!**

**Special thank you to Teobi and Musette 3**

**Ah, it's amazing what a pile of homework makes you want to do...probably going to fail english now, oh well, it's like, 1 in the morning, I don't care :)**

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Julian stood about 6 feet tall and was looking down on the four boys as they walked like he had just won the christmas lottery. "Awww, look at the little freshmen, all scared and quiet." He frowned "I can't even remember being scared and quiet it was that long ago, jeeze that makes me feel old. Anyway, as you know, I'm Julian, I'm a senior and I'm also the new deputy head boy. You guys are in Dorm 2 in the east wing, which may or may not be a good thing, depending on who else ends up there." The small group walked back out, shielding their eyes from the sun as it radiated down cheerfully on them.

"Okay, Dorado dorms, the smallest of the dorms, has four wings to it, East, South, and two North wings, of which i'm sure will be christened with new names to distinguish them. I think last year they were called Red North and Green North, which coincidently also made for some loverly semi-coordinated Christmas decorations." He smiled back at the four boys and stopped suddenly, shooting his arm out to stop them, reminding Alan of Willy Wonka in the chocolate room from the original movie.

"This," Julian gesture to the grass, "is special grass, you're not allowed to walk on it, or Mrs Hunter, the woman who was talking before, will live up to her name." He stared at the boys evenly, "Students must walk on the path." He turned again up the small grey path he had been gesturing to and began talking again. "Also, I suggest avoiding the woods behind your dorm, a lot of bad stuff has happened there over the years, rumour has it, that a few years ago, one of the seniors went mad from too much stress and hung himself from the tree with the big branch above the little campsite. Naturally the school covered it up, swept it under the rug, but ask any student who was there and they will all tell you about his ghost who sneaks up behind you an-"

"JULIAN!" The prefect with the group that got called ahead of them glared at the tall deputy.

"What? I was telling them about Crazy Dave."

"Don't scare them in their first 10 minutes."

"They're terrified anyway, some warnings about the woods isn't going to make it worse."

A cough sounded behind the shorter of the prefects and a boy, the same one who had been teasing the band geek earlier stepped forward, "Um, we can hear you y'know"

The prefects glanced at each other, and Julian spoke up, "Yup, why?"

"Isn't it rude to talk about people behind their backs?"

"Probably, but we don't care enough to not."

The brave freshman nodded, "Ok-ayy, can we see our dorm instead? It's hot out here." The two prefects were giving him murderous glares and he quickly added, "Um, because then you can leave us alone and go talk with your friends and stuff."

Julian shrugged and pushed open the big, rather heavy looking oak door easily with one hand, grinning slightly at the gasps.

* * *

To say their wing of the dorm was amazing was an understatement. From the mammoth main common room, if you walked in a straight line to the back of the room, there was another set of doors that opened to the east wing.

The East Wing common room was a lot longer than it was wide and had 3 large couches placed around a rug in front of a fire (Well, a fake fire. Freshman + real fire in a mostly unsupervised room = bad idea x1000000). To the far end was a bench with 3 computers set up for general use, or if someone's laptop crashed, they still had internet. Along the wall opposite the fire were 3 evenly spaced doors with numbers on them, each leading to a room with 4 beds, each with its own small wardrobe, bedside table and footlocker. Off to the left of each dorm was a door that lead to a bathroom with two showers, two toilets and two sinks, all looking more sturdy than elegant, like they had been designed to break as little as possible, with not much considerations to how they looked.

Julian lead his small troupe of boys to Dorm 2 and told them to find their stuff in the pile of bags in the doorway. Alan looked at him and sighed, Julian had been nice, but it was clear that he wanted to just be over with this so he could leave. The boys found their bags and picked beds and started to settle in, Julian leaving them alone to figure it out.

"H-Hey guys.." Fermat called nervously, his clothes mostly unpacked, bed nearly made, "There are little name p-plaques on the beds, and t-this isn't my one."

The small boy, Echo, looked at the top of his bed head and groaned 'Tracy' it read, neatly engraved and stuck to the wood. Alan looked at his 'Hackenbacker'.

"Well mine says 'English' so, looks like you guys are the losers in this situation" The blond boy, Isaac, said. He lounged back on his bed grinning.

"Oh c-come on! Y-you can at least help us m-move!"

Isaac sighed dramatically, still grinning, but got up and went over to Fermat's bed, "So, Echo, my quiet buddy, you're supposed to be here," He pointed to Alan's bed, "This one is supposed to be there and you're supposed to be where Echo is?"

The boys sighed sadly and started carting clothes over the their new beds.

"Hey, when do the sheets get laundered?" Isaac said suddenly.

"Erm, Fridays I think, why?"

"Well today is only Tuesday, if you can't be bothered changing sheets now, just use each others 'till Friday, get them all washed and swap back, saves us having to pull them all off and remake 3 beds."

Alan and Fermat looked at each other, "Well we don't care, we lived together before we came here anyway. What about you Echo?"

"Yeah, sure, why not, it's be a laugh right?" He said, cracking a smile. With a smile in his eyes, he ran over and jumped in His/Fermat's bed and yelled at the top of his lungs, "OH FERMAT YOUR BED IS SO COMFORTABLE, GET BACK IN HERE NOW." Sending the four of them into hysterics.

Out in the hall, the three waiting prefects sent worried glances at each other.

* * *

Dorm 3 wasn't having as much luck. Klutzy Heath had managed to knock over a lamp, sending the bulb shattering over the floor, two of the boys were cleaning it up while Heath himself had been banished to sitting on his bed after nearly knocking over one of Curtis's music stands trying to help. Watching Ashton and Tyson clean up was interesting Heath decided, like ebony and ivory, but not really going together at all. Tyson was medium hight, with dark skin and even darker hair, so far landing the record for longest time without taking your iPod out of more than one ear the whole day, Ashton however, was a spitting image of his twin, tall with greeny-blue eyes, but his hair was darker than Isaac's was, although the resemblance was striking.

"Are you sure you don't want any help? I feel bad sitting here."

"NO!" Both boys chorused.

"What about you Curtis? Can I help _you_ with anything?"

"Mmm, thanks, but no-thanks, I like my instruments, _un_-dented and in one piece actually" He smiled at Heath though, "It's ok, everyone stuffs up, we may just have to Heath-proof this room now though, y'know, plugs in empty power sockets, no sharp objects or small items left around," he paused, "Oh and a giant, Heath-proof brick wall around my babies." he reached out a hand around his saxophone and the other around his trombone.

Heath sighed and reached into his bag for his book, leaning back and watching the boys finish tidying up.

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Dorm 1 on the other hand, had _too _much luck, with the next U.S President trying to make rational decisions, being shot down every time by the next hit Soccer player, the other two boys staying quiet and avoiding the war between politics and sport that was unfolding between their beds.

"No, you _can't _put that poster up, it's vulgar and horrible, and defiantly not appropriate for a school!" Trent said for the millionth time, slowly losing the battle and his patience.

"Well I don't care! I need it there to sleep!"

"...you need _that_ specific image to sleep? Can we compromise and, like, draw a bikini on her or something?"

"Is there something wrong with you? WHAT DO YOU HAVE AGAINST HER BEAUTY."  
"THE FACT SHE ISN'T WEARING ANYTHING IS DISTRACTING."

"Guuuys," Alex sat up on his bed, now with the boys' attention, "I think that we can all agree that yes she is pretty, and how she isn't wearing anything is...good. But we can't put it up, it'll get confiscated, then no-one will have it. Josh, just keep it in your locker, bring it out when you need it" he sent a pointed look towards the boy, a brave move considering Joshua Sabin was nearly a whole foot taller than him.

".." finally gritted out.

"Can we compromise? Keep the poster in your locker, and we won't call you Josh." Trent spoke up again.

"Fine, but it will be making regular appearances!"

"Minnie not putting out is she?" Vito, who had been watching this the whole time without saying a word stood up, "Heard she had the hots for someone else" he walked out, leaving Sabin gaping, before he regained himself and ran out after the boy.

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**Review? Please? xx**


	3. Sir Ashton

**Thank you again to Teobi for reviewing :D**

**Also, R.I.P to all the people in the Japan Tsunami, if only the Thunderbirds could be helping the clean up and rescue efforts 3

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Julian stayed in the East Wing common room for the specified amount of time with the other prefects, slowly waiting for the clock to show 2:30pm, the time in which it was deemed, if the freshman had any queries they would have asked them by then. Even though everyone knew most wouldn't be brave enough to ask and would figure it out for themselves, it was a policy in place to re-assure parents that sending their children to board at Wharton was in their best interests.

The situation in Dorm 2 had improved, with the boys having finished re-shuffling their belongings, and Julian had poked his head in informing them he was leaving and that they might want to call their parents if they hadn't already. Echo had left straight away, phone in hand, his Mum on speed dial. Fermat wanted to call his Dad really badly, but knew the rescue would probably still be in place and his Dad would call as soon as he could. Alan was in the same boat, his Dad would call when he was ready.

"Aren't you going to call your folks?" Isaac had looked up, frowning.

"Na, they had a heap of important work to get back to, they'll call us when they are done" Alan brushed it off, "What about you?"

"I'm pretty sure Ash is talking to them now, when he's done I'll go steal the phone"

"Ash?"

"Oh, right, my brother Ashton, he's in the dorm next to us. We're twins, must have forgot to tell you." he grinned, as Alan glared at him.

"How can someone _forget _to mention they have a twin?"

"Well I guess i'm so used to everyone knowing that I forget sometimes. The last school we went to a Middle school and and Elementary school in the same block and because it was in a small town everyone knew we were twins, and we used to always be called to different classes of little kids who were learning about differences and have 7-year-olds point out that "His hair is different" and "He's taller" and Ash would always get "He's prettier."" He shrugged, "I'm used to it though."

"H-having a twin must be cool, a-always someone to talk to right?" Fermat piped up.

"Yeah, it's pretty good, even better when you gang up on your unsuspecting sisters armed with Nerf guns to steal their chips" He grinned a grin only to rival the Cheshire Cat.

"Wait, how many sibling do you have?"

"3, Ash and two sisters, one older and one younger. They're gross."

"Ah, the j-joys of being an only c-child" Fermat said, smiling.

"Hey! You've lived with us for years! Surely you must see at least me as a brother! Maybe not the others, but at least me!"

"H-haha I'm kidding A-Alan, of course I see you all as b-brothers!

"YOU STUTTERED OVER 'BROTHERS'. YOU'RE LYING." Alan yelled in mock accusation.

Fermat glared, "I s-stutter over e-everything."

"I know, I just felt like teasing you" Alan reached over and ruffled his hair quickly before being swatted away.

"How many brothers do you have?" Isaac asked, curious.

"Not counting Fermat, I have four"

Isaac let out a long whistle, "Must be busy at you're house then?"

Out of the corner of his eyes, Alan glanced at Fermat, "Yeah, it's always busy at my house though. And all 4 are older than me too. I'm the baby of the family, all blond, blue-eyed and innocent" he smiled and batted his eyelids as the others laughed.

The guitar solo from the start of The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus' 'Fake it' started and Alan leapt over to his cell phone, checking the caller ID.

"It's my Dad! See you guys!" He pushed the green button and shut the door behind him.

* * *

The Thunderbirds were already half launched before they found out where they were going, the only instructions so far had been "Island, west of us, tsunami"

"John, where are we going?" Virgil said, skilfully manoeuvring the giant green hull of thunderbird two into the air.

"Vanuatu, there was a small earthquake basically next to the island and an equally small tsunami has hit the coast, they want us in there to help move some stuff to get a few trapped people out. I hope you boys brought your thermal sensors, they're going to need them."

"Well you're just lucky we used out initiative and did, aren't you!"

"BOYS! Must you bicker and fight on _every _mission?"

"Nope, just the ones where you aren't with us"

"Speaking of which, we're going to have to go or we aren't going to make it in time for the assembly and I would like to be back before you 3 are." Jeff turned to Alan and Fermat, who were standing behind various control room monitors, watching the action. Virgil relaying rescue ideas back and forth with Scott, while in the background, Gordon was dancing along to a constant tune of Virgil pushing various buttons.

"Yeah, we should probably go," Alan sighed, "See you guys, Virge, Gords, call me when it's all over, tell us what happened!"

"F.A.B sprout, and you have to tell us how school is and stuff." Virgil called back, partially distracted as he flew through some cloud.

"Go grab your other bags and i'll meet you in the jet." The boys left and Jeff turned to Brains, "Are you sure you don't want to come? Tin-tin can keep an eye on things here and John could basically run it all by himself anyway."

"N-no Mr. Tracy, it's o-okay. Besides, I can go out to v-vist the school whenever I n-need to anyway. I trust F-Fermat will be f-fine with you and Alan."

Jeff nodded and left the room, headed for the jet hanger.

* * *

"Hello?" Alan's quiet voice said. Jeff let out a breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding.

"Hey Al, how are you, sorry we had to leave so early, you know how things are."

"It's ok, how was the rescue?" Alan whispered the last word quietly.

"Oh, it was fine, they got there and managed most of the clean up, the damage wasn't that bad on out scales-"

"-just bad on theirs"

Jeff smiled,_ a few years and this kid was going to be one of the best Thunderbirds_, "Yep, pretty much, 6 people in the rubble, 5 pulled out alive, the last one had no hope. Part of a massive concrete wall was pinning him down on top of what seemed to be a car junkyard workshop, he wasn't conscious when they found him and he couldn't be saved."

Alan hissed, "Sounds painful, what else?"

"Not much, now come on, tell me about school! How are your dorm mates?"

"They're pretty cool, A kid called Isaac, who 'forgot' to mention he has a twin, a quiet boy called Echo who is actually pretty funny when you get to know him and of course Fermat. The dorms on either side of us have an assortment of characters, ranging from the resident band geek to the school rebel to the next president, with everyone else in-between."

"They seem okay then, could be worse. Do you know when you get your timetables?"

"Nope, but I think we have a whole dorm meeting tonight so we'll see how that goes. Has Brains called Fermat yet?"

Jeff sighed, he really needed to go and _force _his engineer to leave maintenance until later, "No, T2 has some problem with the air-con apparently, Virgil won't stop complaining and is helping Brains fix it now I think, but as soon as I get off the

phone to you, I'm going to MAKE him call Fermat."

"Good, and then make Virgil fix the air-con, if it's that big of a problem, he can fix it. Right?" Alan said sternly and Jeff chuckled.

"Yes, fine, I'm walking there now, I'll talk to you later ok. Tell Fermat I said hi, and your other Dorm mates too if you want."

"F.A.B Dad, and tell John and Gords to stop emailing me, my inbox is nearly full and it's only the first day."

"Will do, see you." Jeff hung up the phone and picked up the pace, Brains needed to talk to Fermat, the kid deserved that.

Alan walked back in and saw their dorm had gained a member, a blond boy, with a striking resemblance to Isaac, (and as much as he hated to say it, this one (Ash? Ash-something? He was sure it started with and A...) was prettier, a little more cherubic and maybe an inch shorter. He was on the phone saying goodbyes as Isaac stood with his hand out glaring at his twin.

"Mhmm, yep. Oh yeah? Well tell JJ I said-"

Another ringtone started, this time it was the Kim Possible theme song and all the boys grinned as Fermat scrambled to shut it off. A smile spreading across his face as he left the room, glad to be talking to his Dad.

"...No Mum, it was one of Isaac's roomies. Do you want to talk to him instead? Ok, bye, here," he passed the phone over and went to swat his brother, the hit easily missed as it was thrown off with a kick in Ashton's shin. Balancing the phone between his ear and shoulder, Isaac shuffled his hands indicating them to leave, which they did, they weren't stupid! Don't hang around an angry Isaac! As they left, Alan watched Ashton, he kept looking around, curiously, like this was his favourite holiday spot, and even though he had been here a million times, he managed to find something new that amazed him. It was interesting.

"Oh, Hi," Ashton shook his head, a bit of hair falling out of place, "Forgot to introduce myself," He stuck his hand out and Alan shook it, "I'm Ashton, the bonehead in there talking to our Mum is my twin, Isaac, but you probably knew that. Who are you?"

"I'm Alan, nice to meet you."

A silent pause followed and Ashton spoke up again, "Do you want to meet the rest of my dorm? I've met basically all yours."

Alan smiled and nodded, glad for something to do, "Yeah, may as well, I'm going to have to meet them one day right?"

Ashton opened the door to Dorm 3 and immediately wished he hadn't.

"Heeeath." He rushed over to where Tyson and Curtis were cleaning up a soppy mess of plastic, wax and marshmallows.

Heath looked up sadly from the floor, "Sorry Ash, I was toasting marshmallows with a tealight an-"

"-Managed to set the bag on fire. It's ok, but from now on, ALL fire is banned in here."

Alan watched the scene, thankful his dorm wasn't like this, but jealous at how quickly this dorm had bonded, well they had to, Heath would have burnt it down otherwise.

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**I think that is the longest chapter I have ever written :D**

**I probably should have mentioned at the top that, no, as much as I would like to, I don't own the Thunderbirds. I own my spelling errors, my OC's and the plot :)**

**See that shiny review button? You know you want to push it...IT'S SHINY.**


	4. Piccadilly

**Does the fact that it's a long(ish) chapter make up for being late?**

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The freshmen boys had all gathered in the mammoth main common room and Alan was surprised to see Julian back. He was standing up the front, deep in conversation with another boy who looked about the same age, which would seem normal, except they both kept looking over in his direction, puzzled.

"Do you think that's him?"

"Yeah, I'm sure of it, looks just like his Dad."

"Oh." Julian paled at this thought, "And I was bitchy to him earlier, like, teenage girl bitchy."

"Go see him after, I would say go now but I don't think we have time, Hunter is about to start the meeting"

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The meeting itself was rather un-eventful, basically reading straight out of the Wharton Boarders Handbook, of which every freshman had already read cover to cover trying to find out more about the place they would be spending the next 4 years

"You and your allocated prefect will also return to your wing common rooms and follow the instructions they present. Do not forget, bulling is completely unacceptable and it is a very strongly enforced school policy. Students may not make hurtful comments against another student's race, religion, sexuality, favourite sea creature or anything else for that matter."

"...Favourite Sea creature?" Heath whispered to Isaac.

"Well if I liked sharks and you liked dolphins, then I went around your dorm and made all of my stuffed sharks eat your dolphin figurines, you might see that as hurtful? I don't really get it either."

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"...Bonding games?"

Julian sighed, "Apparently, we have to sit in a circle and go around the group, say our names, our strengths and then something that makes us different to others"

"Sounds like lame bonding game time!" Isaac sat crossed legged on the floor like a toddler, everyone slowly joining him with varying degrees of enthusiasm.

After a quiet pause, Julian sighed again, "Fine then, i'll start shall I? My name is Julian Cross, I'm good at chemistry and movie references, and I'm different because I have a dorm to myself."

"How come you got a dorm to yourself? Not fair!" Trent yelled.

Julian almost nearly smiled, "Because I'm deputy head boy. Sports captains and a few others do as well. Do you want to go next?"

"Sure, my name is Trent Barker, I'm really good at soccer, and I have never lost a right-handed arm wrestle to date." He smiled triumphantly.

"Let me guess, you also use your right hand to wa-"

"HEY! Too much information!" Julian interrupted, arms flailing. "Kid next to Trent, go."

"Uh, I'm Echo, I'm good at physics and I can name and find every constellation in the northern hemisphere."

Julian whistled, "Impressive, pick someone else to go."

Echo pointed to Alan at the same time a small ball of paper flew across the room, from one twin to the other.

"Well I'm Alan and I'm good at running and I live with my 4 older brothers and Fermat when I'm not here."

Isaac looked at Ashton, giving a small smile and nod, before re-crumpling the paper and eating it.

"Blondie who just ate paper, you're up next."

"I'm Isaac, I'm good at dying my hair and the idiot in green is my twin brother."

"You dye your hair?" Echo asked, confused.

"Well, would you be able to tell me apart from Ash if I didn't?"

Echo looked back and forth between the two boys, and muttered, "I guess not..."

"Yeah, that's why I do it, Ash your turn."

Ashton groaned, "...I'm Ashton, I'm good at Drama..." he looked up at Isaac, who nodded in encouragement, _I cant do this_, "And, yeah, Isaac is my twin." he finished lamely, biting his lip and Isaac smacked his forehead. _Sorry._ Ash whispered across at him.

"Yep, we got that you are twins. Tanned kid, the floor is yours."

Tyson just looked up and rolled his eyes.

* * *

"Nooo, you can't do that. You have to own Piccadilly to put a house there!"

"No I don't! We decided at the start we only had to own two of them!"

"We totally did not!"

"Stuff you both. MY TURN!" John interrupted through Gordon's laptop which had been placed on web chat in the centre of the table. He had his own dice and could watch via a camera. "Oh look, two 6's. Virge can you move me ple-"

An earsplitting siren cut him off, all the boys putting on their serious faces as they ran from the mess that was Gordon's room. Or in Johns case, spin around in his chair to face the massive Thunderbirds control centre, his fingers flying across the keyboard as he started prepping for the mission.

* * *

"Colorado, avalanche." Jeff said, his voice grim, as three of his sons skidded into his office. "Make sure we have enough thermals and blankets."

"I'll do it." John muttered, just in time for his father to hear, before he disappeared into the bowels of Tracy Island headed to the silo's. John waited as he clicked through some prompts, the extra blankets dropping into the cargo hold of Thunderbird 2.

Virgil had started the engines of Thunderbird 2 and was starting to warm her up. Watching, as he saw Scott speed away in Thunderbird 1 already.

Waiting, for his stupid brother to hurry up and strap in the extra supplies with his Dad so they could go already.

* * *

"H-hey Alan! Guess w-what!"

Alan looked up from his biology, frowning. On the one occasion he was actually doing his homework, and Fermat interrupts him. Typical. "Whaat? This better be important, Mr Pound needs this by tomorrow!"

"O-oh, it's not that i-important...O-other than the T-thunderbirds being on the t-t.v!"

The two boys grinned and ran out the room, where the crowd watching the rescue on their T.V had grown, with only Trent missing. Fermat scooted back to where Echo had been holding his place on the couch, leaving Alan standing behind the full couches.

"I am here now with Lani Roberts, who's house is completely under snow. How does that feel?"  
"..My husband, where is my husband? Have you seen him? He went back when they said it wasn't safe, I-I told him not to. My daughter, have you seen my d-daughter." The poor woman was hysterical now and Lisa Lowe looked like she couldn't care less.

"And how does it feel to have lost everything?"

The screen turned off and the room went black. Everyone looked around.

"...was that a power out? Tell me it wasn't." A voice from the now dark room.

"I-i'll go check."

"Do you want me to come with you?" Alan asked to the darkness that he thought was Fermat.

"N-no, if it i-is a power out, I-I can fix it. Probably n-not legally, but s-still." The group listened as Fermat fumbled his way out of the room.

"...Sooo. Does anyone want to squish up so I can have a seat?"

"We will, move up Alex."

"Who is we? And which couch?"

"Heath, Ash and Alex, we're on the left couch."

Alan reached out in front of him, groping the air for obstacles, slowly moving forward.

"Marco!"

Alan froze, "Polo! But who yelled out?"

"Heath. MARCO!"

"POLO! How is this helping?"

"Head towards my voice. MARCO!"

Alan took a step forwards, "POLO!"

"MARCO." coming more from the left.

"POLO"

"MARCO!"

Alan screamed as Heath sounded in his ear. "Polo. Jee thanks, now I might be able to hear again in a few weeks if i'm lucky."

* * *

Squeezing 4 boys on a couch designed for 2 or maybe 3 skinny people wasn't as uncomfortable as Alan thought it would be. By this point, the boys had taken out their iPods and phones and staying occupied waiting for the power to be back.

"NO. DIE. I HATE YOU." Heath was screaming at Alan's iPod...well more specifically the Angry Birds, but still funny to watch.

"You know Heath, for someone so uncoordinated, you are surprisingly good at these games."

"Because I don't have to walk anywhere or have the possibility to knock something over."

"Or set something on fire."

"You guys are so supportive of me." He replied dryly.

"Hey Echo, can you pass me throw on the back of your couch?" Alan reached out, to make it look like he was doing something to help, even though Echo couldn't see it.

"Are you cold?" Ash asked, shoulder to shoulder with the blond, "We have one over here, don't worry Echo." He reached over the couch arm and dragged up a blue throw, the same colour blue are the couches (and, coincidently, part of their uniforms too). Shaking it out over Alan.

"See. Better now?"

"Yeah, um, thanks. Don't you want some blanket too?" He moved his hand to share it but Ash grabbed his wrist, not letting him move.

"Nope, unlike other little twigs in this room," He looked pointedly at a glaring Alan, "I don't really get cold, we grew up in Canada so i'm used to it."

"Well I grew up a little bit when I was young in normal America, and came here last week from a freaking tropical Island. I. Feel. The. Cold."

"Do you want a hug?"

"...why?"

"Body heat is the best way to keep warm."

Alan actually considered it, it was freezing here! "Hmmm, naaa."

Ash just shrugged, "Your loss."

They sat in comfortable silence for a moment.

The T.V flickered back into life and the lights came back on. Everyone making mental notes to thank Fermat when he came back. Mental notes they would probably forget as they all leaned forward to watch the rescue continue on their illegally powered T.V.

* * *

**I'm not sure about thins chapter, I split it in half anyway so a few pages of the next one is done. But i'm not sure if I like it that much. Meh. Tell me what you think!**

**I think I use that line thing to split up my sections too much. Oh well. Thats how I wrote it.**

**Again, much love to Teobi for reviewing.**


	5. We talk too much

**You know those epiphanies you have in the middle of those math tests that you're failing on the 12 year anniversary of your Dad's death? (And then don't end up finishing the chapter until the next day because you're too tired (and then don't even finish, cheat, and split the chapter because it's 2 in the morning)) Yeah, I had one of those.**

**Love and hugs to Rinix14, Teobi and MistyToryRabiyah. You all made various parts of my week better 3**

* * *

"Hey, Alan can I talk to you?"

"Yeah, of course. What's up?"

"You have to promise to answer all questions completely honestly."

"Um, sure ok."

"Promise?"

"Promise.

"What do you know about yourself?"

Alan paused, "No much I suppose. I mean, I know about somethings, but never really looked too deep, been too preoccupied with other stuff like defending my pride and internal organs from my brothers."

"Okayy, have you ever kissed anyone?."

"Er, no" He said quietly, a little red.

"Have you ever had a girlfriend?"

"Well, not really, I mean Fermat reckons I should have dated Tin-Tin, but-"

"No, no, no. It doesn't matter what Fermat thinks at this point. Did you like her."

"Well, I guess, I don't know! Your question is stupid."

"No, it isn't. Did you like the girl? Could you see yourself kissing her? Could you see yourself doing other things to her?"  
"Ew, gross no! She's my second-best friend!"

"There you go, you didn't like her. Well not as anything other than a friend. Which is fine, at least you know that now. Would you rather marry Adam Lambert or Brad Pitt."

"Adam, for sure. I do not see any attraction in Brad Pitt. How he is married I have no idea."

"Ok, rate the following people."

"On what! Looks? Personality?"

"All together, just them as a generalisation. Sabin."

"Honestly? Like, a 6, he's not very nice to me."  
"Tyson."

"7? 7 and a half? He seems quiet."

"Isaac."

"7 or 8, he's the best dorm buddy."

"Ash."

"8? 9? I don't know."

"Why is Ash more, if they are identical twins? And you just said Isaac is the best dorm buddy."

"...I don't know."

"What do you see when you look at him?"

"Excuse me?"

"When you look at Ash, what do you see that is different to Isaac."

"Lots of things! Them being identical twins is only a small part of them! They are different! Isaac's eyes are more grey than Ash's, whose are more blue and almost sparkly. Their hair is obvious. Ash's is darker and he puts more effort into styling as opposed to Isaac who spends his 'hair time' getting me to help him bleach the shit out of it so people can tell them apart! Ashton is more cherubic and a little shorter, but still a few inches taller than me. Ash also loves pears and Isaac hates them. Do you want me to keep going!" He was standing up now, getting mad.

"You watch him too much, every time he's in our dorm, which if I remember is most of the time, you just watch him."

"I do not!" Alan retorted hotly.

"You do, and when that rescue thing was on T.V. as well. I suppose you're lucky he hasn't noticed yet." Echo stood up and walked out, stopping momentarily as he opened the door and found Ashton himself sitting outside in the hall, looking pale, his head in his hands. Echo ignored him and kept walking. Leaving both Alan and Ash to ponder in their own thoughts.

* * *

"Hey!"

Alan turned and saw Julian running breathlessly towards him. "Oh, hey Julian."

"Can I talk to you?"

Alan paled, he remembered very well what happened last time someone said that.

"It's nothing bad!" Julian assured him, flailing his arms a bit.

"S-sure." He was still nervous.

"Awesome, um, what does your Dad do?"

Alan's breath caught in his throat, "Um, he's a retired Astronaut, why?" _Please don't question it._

"Did he by any chance do any charity work in hospitals before one of his missions, like 23-24 years ago in April?"

"How am I supposed to know! My oldest brother wasn't even born then!"

"Oh, can you ask him? Because i'm pretty sure he did, and unless he has changed drastically over those years and had his face made unrecognisable in that time, there is a picture of him holding my older sister when she was a baby in ICU on my mantle piece at home. He looks just like you."

Alan could only blink, "Okaaay then, i'll ask but i'm not sure. He doesn't really talk about him being an astronaut much." _Which is true, _he thought to himself, _they were too caught up in the Thunderbirds now to have the time or energy to talk about Jeff Tracys "old job"._

"Really? Why not?"

"Oh, he doesn't really have time and it's not that interesting when he does."

"I think it would be interesting. He was who inspired me to study to try and be an engineer, maybe an astronaut, depending on what my exam results are." He smiled at Alan wryly, "I guess it's just karma I was a bitch to you."

"I didn't really notice, I have 4 older brothers, i'm used to it. But I have to go, I have English now and you know Mr. Kendall, but i'll ask my Dad and get back to you." He didn't even wait for Julian's response and he took off down the corridor.

* * *

"You're all wimps." Julian strode into the east wing glaring at the group of boys around the T.V. The rescue had finished and they were mostly watching Heath scream at Angry Birds or Echo kicking Ash's butt at Mario Kart.

"I'm not! I'm the bravest here!" Sabin was the first to defend his pride.

"Then prove it." Julian stated simply.

That cut him back, "Uh, okay, how?"

"Go camp out in the woods behind your dorm. For the whole night. All of you."

Curtis frowned, looking up from his book, "Isn't that where that kid killed himself?"

"Yep, who's up for it?"

"Wait? Are you coming too?"

"Pffft, no, just all you guys. Remember, if one goes, you all go. Your dorm is only as strong as it's weakest person. Don't let the gaps between you grow like the difference between first and third world countries." Julian took one last sweeping glare at them all and marched out.

"He is so weird." Curtis muttered.

"Well I'm in, so looks like the rest of you have to be as well." Sabin looked around again, most of the group nodding.

"U-Uh-uh, I'm not s-sleeping out t-there."

"Oh come on Fermat, one night to prove ourselves! It'll be fun!"

"B-but there are b-bugs and s-spiders!"

"Just think of it as a biology field day!"

"...O-or night."

"Exactly!"

"F-fine, I'm in. I h-hate you all for d-dragging me into t-this."

"YES! Who else has objections?"

"...Well I'm not too keen, but I'm going to be dragged into going anyway, so I see no point in objecting." Tyson added quietly.

"That's the spirt! So, tonight?"

"...Or tomorrow. Let me at least finish my Biology."

"Ok, I can live with that, tomorrow it is! Everyone get packing!" Sabin announced, clapping his hands together and walking off, already able to list half a dozen pranks to play on the others. This was going to be good.

* * *

**Short, choppy and mostly dialogue. I feel kinda bad, but it's setting up for the next one, (which may be late but I promise will be awesome and worth it) meh, it needed to happen, just happened to be this one.**

**Gawd, if you could see my Math book and school diary, the two of them are a mass of constructive scribbles that even I can barely read, yet make total sense when I start planning each chapter. Almost like a storyboard, but all drawn on top of each other in rainbow coloured pens (For what ever reasons, I am yet to master NOT drawing all my storyboards in the same 5cm of my Math book.)...my friends think I'm insane.**

**~ Fairy Bread and hugs to anyone who reviews. I appreciate it even if you just say hi or point out some stupid spelling error ~**


	6. Camping Catastrophes

**Over a month late and nearly 5 pages long..**

**Apologies as always my dears *love***

* * *

"Does anyone actually have any camping things?"

"Erm, no, we were just going to wing it, y'know, sneak out and back in without a trace. All while still proving our masculinity." Trent pretended to flex his left muscle.

"Oh excellent, sleeping bags?"

"Again, nope." Trent replied, popping the 'p'.

"So let me get this straight, we are sneaking out of our dorm, to go and sleep in some creepy woods where an over-stressed student killed himself a few years ago, just to 'prove' that we aren't 'wimps', and we have no tents or anything?"

"Yeah, pretty much. Sounds fun though right?" Trent was grinning. He had surprisingly embraced the idea, fully aware that a few boys were now scared after he was seen collaborating with Sabin with elaborate hand gestures and evil laughter.

"Uhm, sure, if you like that stuff." As much as Alan loved adrenaline, he loved it from missions and being brave, not 'camping' in the woods behind a dorm where some kid killed himself.

"It'll be good, come on, one night, what could possibly go wrong?" Trent smacked him on the shoulder and walked out of the room, still grinning.

* * *

"...They don't even have tents. How are we supposed to hang the tents from the trees if they don't have any!" Julian seethed at Marcus. The two prefects were hiding behind a large oak tree near where the freshmen were trying to make a fire.

"We could just scare them? Go back to the dorm and get the CD player from the common room, play scary music and wear sheets!"

"Oh yeah, real scary." Julian glared at the shorter boy.

"Well then think of something else!"

Julian's eyes lit up and he grabbed Marcus, dragging him back to the main part of the school "Come on! Best idea ever! We gotta grab some stuff though!"

* * *

The boys sat huddled around their measly fire, the branched they used still damp from the rain earlier on in the day. Attempts to roast marshmallows were failing and they were being eaten uncooked.

"Oh! Hang on, I forgot I had these!" Isaac pulled out a few small viles from his bag, unstoppering one and moving closer to the fire.

"Haha I'm impressed you remembered!" Ash moved over and hi-5ed his brother and grabbed a different vile.

"Potassium Chloride." Isaac tipped a little bit of the bottle's contents into the flame, watching the flames change from orange to a purple.

"Calcium Chloride" Ashton did the same with his, the flames going a dark orange colour.

"And some Copper Sulphate." The flames went a wicked green.

"Should we be c-concerned where these c-came from at all?" Fermat glanced over.

The twins looked at each other, "...Naaaa."

"Yeah, I'm sure the science department won't miss them that much." Echo rolled his eyes.

"EXACTLY. I knew there was a reason I though you were awesome!"

"Excellent, so now that's all I am. 'The awesome kid'."

"I would be impressed with that title if I were you. Wear it with pride, when we get back, I'll make you a badge."

"Looking forward to it. I'm sure it'll be lovely and pink."

"With glitter, don't forget the glitter!"

"Oh, how straight of you."

There was an awkward pause and the twins looked at each other. "Damn straight Echo, _damn_ straight."

"Just like the purple flam-"

"EVERYBODY SHUT UP." Trent jumped to his feet and held his finger over his lips, "I can hear something."

"WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE." Heath looked devastated, "I DIDN'T EVEN GET TO SEE THE LAST HARRY POTTER MOVIE."

"I SAID SHUT UP."

"I-it could be just an a-animal" Fermat suggested weakly.

"You want to go check that Brains?"

"N-not really.."

"Then zip it and stay here. Put out the fire and keep quiet. Sabin, Alan, you're coming with me." The boys shrugged and followed Trent.

* * *

"Perfect." Julian positioned his weapon under his arm and whispered into his walkie-talkie. "Ok, guys on 3. 1, 2, 3, GO!" Being attacked by half the senior class in the middle of the woods during your first ever week at boarding school shortly after three of the bravest guys in your group left was a lot more terrifying than any of them expected.

"THEY HAVE NERF GUNS." A sharp shot in the side of Heath's leg nearly knocked him over, had a senior not been there to grab him and whisper dangerously in his ear.

"No, we have paintball guns."

Heath stared at the senior, eyes wide, "I TAKE IT BACK. THEY HAVE PAINTBALL GUNS."

"WHO CARES KLUTZ. THERE ARE TEACHERS COMING." The seniors dropped the kids they were holding and ceased fire. Giving everyone a chance to look where Julian was screaming. Sure enough, off in the distance, they could all see the tell-tale light beams of the teachers approaching. "RETREAT. NOW." The seniors fled on foot, jumping over the fallen freshmen.

"W-we might want to r-run too g-guys!" Fermat scrambled to his feet, grabbing his bag and running after Ashton and Isaac, hoping they could find the missing three and loose the teachers at the same time.

* * *

"Uhh, guys, the window is stuck." Tyson looked down at his shocked dorm mates. Not only had Tyson spoken 6 consecutive words, their only way inside and away from trouble was locked. The world was defiantly ending.

"Well how are we going to get in!"

"We could break a window?"

"And how will that not get us caught?"

"Break one of Dorm 3's, blame Heath."

"Sorry buddy, you gotta take one for the team. Sabin, give me a lift, if I do it I can make it look more like it was broken from the inside." Echo walked over with a rock and Sabin held out his hands for him to stand on. Before he was even properly hoisted a larger rock flew over his head, smashing the glass over them.

"Hurry up, get up there! Teachers!" Alex pointed over his shoulder at the light beams flashing in the distance, sending the boys scrambling up towards the window, not really bothering who they crushed in the process. Of course, it was half of Dorm 3 that ended up at the bottom of the pile.

"Tyson! Lift Heath up, you're taller than he is, we'll grab him and then we can pull you up after!"

"Uh, okay." The dark skinned boy held out his hands, fingers interlocked for Heath to stand on.

"Ready? 1, 2, 3," Heath pushed himself up, reaching for Isaac, who was dangling outside the window, held there by Sabin and Trent, who were actually agreeing on something for once.

"Dammit, Tys, you're actually not tall enough! Is there a rock or something you can stand on!" Heath jumped of Tyson's hands and ran over to the garden.

"Tys! here, help me lift it." Together, the two boys half dragged, half carried the rock over to under Dorm 3's 2nd storey window.

"This isn't very stabl-"

"1, 2, 3, GO!" Heath pushed himself up again, grabbing Isaac's forearms, Tyson crumbling under him.

"OK, pull me up, Tys, you're next."

No response.

"TYSON! Guys he's hurt!"

"We gotta pull you up Heath, you of all people aren't going back down to help!" Sabin and Trent pulled up Isaac into the window by the legs, silently scraping glass across Isaac's middle.

"Heath! Are you ok?" Ash ran over, concerned like a mother hen for the most vulnerable of his dorm, as the klutz was pulled over the window sill. Sabin jumping back out to go and help Tyson at the same time.

"I'm fine Ash." He pushed the other boy off, glancing at Isaac as he did. "Go see your brother."

"Right, my brother." He moved over to Isaac, putting an arm around his back and hugging him. "...Why aren't you hugging back?" Ash looked up at his twin.

Isaac was pale and had his eyes shut as he leaned into Ash's arm.

"Um, are you okay?"

"Freaking fine."

"Isaac, move your arm."

"What?"  
"The arm across your half shredded jumper, move it, now."

Isaac didn't move. So Ash moved for him, gently prying his brother's arm away from his body.

* * *

"HAS ANYONE SEEN MY STRAIGHTNER?"

"Really Heath? You use a straighter?"

"Really Curtis? You've lived with me for just over a week and you didn't know that?"

"Really guys? Is this how we're arguing?" Tyson glared at the boys from his bed. For the 'quiet kid', Tyson had started talking a lot more after he sprained his ankle. Using the 'disability' to his advantage, making people get stuff for him, make them carry his books, help come up with more lies to feed the nurse and his parents about _how_ he managed to sprain his ankle overnight.

"He's annoying me." Heath shrugged, "and you might want to get out of bed soon Tys, the dorm inspection is in half an hour."

Tyson sighed and flopped back on his pillows dramatically.

Dorm 3 was doomed. It _had _been clean..._cleanish._ It was hard to clean a room with a broken window. And _hide_ said window. Curtis had mostly cleaned up the glass, covering the opening with cardboard and a curtain. Heath had been forbidden to help and Tyson still couldn't use his ankle too much. Then it had started to rain. And Heath had lost his straightner. Then found it. And had seemingly lost it again.

"Heath, hate to bring you back to reality, but, uh, THE DORM IS SLOWLY FLOODING."

Heath glared at the rain pouring in through the now soggy cardboard that had covered the window. "Oh just excellent."

"We could use piles of filled laundry bags as sand-bags? Block the door so everyone else stays dry?"

"Nope, stuff them, if they aren't going to come in and help. Or at least give us back Ashton, they can flood too. Just unplug everything and turn the switches off, put anything electrical away from the window."

"We're not getting Ashton back until Dorm two gets Isaac back. Which could be a while if the cuts stay infected."

Tyson sighed, "I know, but still." Ashton wasn't getting back to school until Isaac did. And Isaac was still in hospital. When Trent and Sabin had dragged Isaac (who was carrying the added weight of Heath) up into the window, all the bits of broken glass stuck in the edge of the window sill had basically shredded his jumper, his shirt and him. Bits of glass embedded in his abdomen and blood everywhere. Google had told them to use hydrogen peroxide (they stole some of Isaac's precious hair bleach) on a cloth to blot at the blood on the carpet, which had mostly worked. But in all seriousness, a group of teen boys cleaning carpet? You could still sort of see the mark.

* * *

**James, I know you're reading this now. That's right, I just named you, now review it and tell me what you think. D: **

**Everybody else, are you proud I actually updated? I am :D **

**That was basically all around the boys and i'm not sure if that was a good thing or not...Meh, this story is going all over the place in my planning.**

**Reviews are lovely...very lovely... xoxox**


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